I am usually the last person to defend T_J, but I think you are misunderstanding what he is saying. Whether you, I, or anybody else agrees with us being in Iraq, we are there. Iraq is a very unstable place right now. Iran has a very able military force. Iraq does not. Given the political climate of the region, the manner of withdrawal is very important. If you withdraw incrementally, ensuring Iraq's security along the way, you have a decent chance at an acceptable result. If you just pack everything up and leave one afternoon, the instability will be exposed. If this happens, there will be a large impact on the price of oil. I believe that this is what T_J was getting at in his post. On this point, I believe that he is right. To treat withdrawal from Iraq as though it can be done in a vacuum without regard to its global economic impact is naive.
